AMD Radeon R9 290X vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN

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Combined performance score

GTX TITAN
21.10
+10.1%

GeForce GTX TITAN outperforms Radeon R9 290X by 10% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking238270
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money2.6810.11
ArchitectureKepler (2012−2018)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameGK110Hawaii XT
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date19 February 2013 (11 years old)24 October 2013 (10 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$999 $549
Current price$640 (0.6x MSRP)$20 (0x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 290X has 277% better value for money than GTX TITAN.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores26882816
CUDA cores2688no data
Core clock speed837 MHzno data
Boost clock speed876 MHz947 MHz
Number of transistors7,080 million6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)250 Watt250 Watt
Texture fill rate187.5 billion/sec176.0
Floating-point performance4,709 gflops5,632 gflops

Size and compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus supportPCI Express 3.0PCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length10.5" (26.7 cm)275 mm
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsOne 8-pin and one 6-pin1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin

Memory

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount6 GB4 GB
Memory bus width384-bit GDDR5512 Bit
Memory clock speed6.0 GB/s1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth288.4 GB/s320 GB/s
Shared memoryno data-

Video outputs and ports

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display ConnectorsOne Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Multi monitor support4 displaysno data
Eyefinityno data+
HDMI++
HDCP+no data
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
DisplayPort supportno data+
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

AppAccelerationno data+
CrossFireno data1
Endurono data-
FreeSyncno data1
HD3Dno data+
LiquidVRno data1
PowerTuneno data-
TressFXno data1
TrueAudiono data+
ZeroCoreno data-
UVDno data+
DDMA audiono data+
Blu Ray 3D+no data
3D Gaming+no data
3D Vision+no data
3D Vision Live+no data

API support

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 (11_0)DirectX® 12
Shader Model5.16.3
OpenGL4.44.6
OpenCL1.22.0
Vulkan1.1.126+
Mantleno data-
CUDA+no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX TITAN 21.10
+10.1%
R9 290X 19.16

GeForce GTX TITAN outperforms Radeon R9 290X by 10% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX TITAN 8180
+10.2%
R9 290X 7425

GeForce GTX TITAN outperforms Radeon R9 290X by 10% in Passmark.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX TITAN 10470
R9 290X 11717
+11.9%

Radeon R9 290X outperforms GeForce GTX TITAN by 12% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

Benchmark coverage: 1%

GTX TITAN 1783
+15.3%
R9 290X 1547

GeForce GTX TITAN outperforms Radeon R9 290X by 15% in Unigine Heaven 4.0.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD95−100
+9.2%
87
−9.2%
4K55−60
+10%
50
−10%

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 21.10 19.16
Recency 19 February 2013 24 October 2013
Cost $999 $549
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 4 GB

The GeForce GTX TITAN is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 290X in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN
GeForce GTX TITAN
AMD Radeon R9 290X
Radeon R9 290X

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User ratings: view and submit

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Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.